The Parker Legacy
by desy
Summary: CHAP 6 UP A certain someone calls Parker to an ungodly hour. JarodParker-Romance POST IOTH
1. Helping the Lost

**Author:** desy  
**Summary**: One month after Carthis, Parker is once again on the chase after Jarod, but ends up in an accident. A certain wannabe doctor takes care for her.  
This story will pick up after the end of IotH and will try to solve all the unanswered questions about who Jarod really is, the scrolls, the Parker family tree and all the other riddles that had appeared on the show.  
**Spoilers:** Set after IotH  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The show 'The Pretender' and all its characters belong to NBC and TNT.  
**Author's Note:** Firstly I wrote that at 4 am, yes AM. So don't be too critical. Secondly if there is some content wrong considering the two movies, please tell me, cuz I have only read summaries about the movies. They weren't aired in free-tv in my country until now. -(

-

_Chapter 1: Helping the Lost_

_Faulkner Hospital  
Boston, Massachusetts  
10/02/01_

The doors to the ER at Faulkner Hospital swung open to carry in, along with the heavy waves of icy snow flakes, the victims of a car accident. One medic held the IV plastic bag up, while his colleague pressed a compression on the deep wound on the brunette woman's stomach – her blood effervescing and soaking through the cloth. The first one barked to the emergency staff: "Car accident. Three badly injured."

Before he could continue a doctor in his early forties rushed to the patient. When he saw the pale features of the woman brought in, his dark brown curls fell into his face hiding the shock his eyes reflected.

Moments past, his hand firmly clasping hers, his orbs kept looked on her closed lids, hiding the bright blue, her eyes normally had. The doctor, whose name tag read Archer, was startled by the voice of the young nurse pressing a new cloth on the wound. "Dr. Archer! … Jarod?"

Coming to his senses once again Jarod let go of his patient's hand his gaze travelled immediately to the gaping gash. "Molly, I need at least three bags of B negative blood." He took over the pressing on the injury and rolled the woman into the next surgery room. The nurse, Molly, stood startled, wondering whence the doctor knew the blood type, and watched the doors swung shut.

-

The sounds of sirens on the driveway were almost swallowed by the howl of the snow storm that blew over Boston. His eyes watched the flakes threw against the window pane, remembering the last storm he was caught in nearly one month before. Only this one isn't half as bad as the one on Carthis was.

His fingers were still grasping the almost lifeless hand of the brunette. He sat there for more than five hours, allowing to break the physical contact to her only for the briefest of moments and only to check, her still high temperature and pulse. The hours before he had fought for her life – stitching her inner organs up as good as the heavy bleeding allowed. Now he was waiting for her to wake up.

He remembered her arrival at the hospital that afternoon; he was surprised to see her at all – since he wasn't about to leave any traces this time. He wanted to vanish for some time – he was cautious to don't leave any hints at his last hideouts. But somehow she had found him, but instead of chasing him with her gun through the long hallways of the hospital, she was brought in near death.

Suddenly her hand gave his a little squeeze and a moan escaped her lips. Jarod moved closer and sat on the bed next to her injured leg, taking her hand between his larger ones. "Hey."

Her eyes flew open, full of panic looking around in the sterile room – she tried to move her body forward, but was stopped by him. He gently held her shoulders. "Clam down, Parker."

Her blurry blue orbs looked up to the man in front of her, adjusting to the dim light, making out the features of her childhood friend – her current prey. Processing his words, his worried expression, she finally relaxed against the pillows. A light 'Jarod?' rang from her pale lips.

He withdrew his hands from her body and stroke with his fingertips gently over her cheek. "You had a really bad car accident. A van crashed into the driver site of your car. You are lucky you wasn't the one sitting at the steering wheel."

"W-wher…"

"Faulkner Hospital. The one I had my last pretend."

"Did you - stitch me up?" She wasn't sure if she liked the idea to have a surgery by a wannabe doctor, that escaped the same insane firm, she worked for. On the other hand he was a genius and perfect at what he does.

He simply nodded and added when he saw her slightly frustrated features. "Or would you have preferred Dr. Langly, who uses to forget the scalpel in his patients." He raised his brows.

"I hope you locked that guy up."

Jarod reached for the glass of water standing on the nightstand and helped her to take small sips. "My work here was done when the ambulance brought you in."

"Only me?" Not that it really bothered her what'd happened to the sweepers, Raines – no, her father - had assigned her.

"No, also the sweeper that was on the right backseat. He's a floor above. – The other two were immediately dead."

A moment passed and he stood the glass back. "I thought you would like a room for yourself…. How have you found me? I wanted to stay off The Centre radar."

She almost smiled a little self-confident. "Call it a feeling."

"Bad feeling." He looked into her eyes.

"Yeah." Miss Parker tried to sit up, but gave up her attempt, when a searing pain rushed through her stomach. She painted heavily to ease the feeling. After a beat she looked up to meet the worried eyes of the pretender. "How bad is it?"

"You are going to be fine now. Nothing more than a slight scar will be left. I tried my best that not much will be left." He than moved his attention to her IV and checked the tube.

"I know you for too long now, Jarod, for not noticing when you are hiding something from me." A small flame of anger flashed in her body, when he didn't continue. "I'm a big girl now. I can handle the truth."

"Ironic that it is you again asking me for the truth of your life."

"Jar-"

He wanted to protect her, to help her as he always had done. But he knew her stubbornness, so he interrupted her arguing. "When you were brought in, you were nearly bleeding to death. I had to give you four blood infusions. And during th-" His voice cracked and he wasn't aware that his hands searched for hers once more. "you … your heart stopped… from the loss of blood pressure." He swallowed hard, not looking at her, his long bangs hanging into his face. "I had to reanimate you. "

Miss Parker was like frozen. She didn't feel his fingers stroking her cheek again; not hearing him call her name. The minutes passed by until she finally reached her hand out to her cheek and covered his hand with hers. „You could have let me die. Would have made your life much easier."

His voice was barely a whisper. "Maybe. …But I refused to believe that _that_ would be the different ending to our story." He faced her and she could see his eyes were glittering with tears, that he fought to hold back.

"Jarod…"

He pulled his hand away. "I will send The Centre some hint that you had followed me to Chicago, so you'll have time to recover. Tomorrow I'll call Sydney and tell him where you are. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"You are leaving." It was more a statement than a question. A part of her didn't want him to leave; the part that had caused the moment of weakness at Carthis.

"You are going to be fine now." He bent forward and gently brushed a kiss on her forehead. "I will call you tomorrow after I've talked to Sydney." Jarod stood up with a final squeeze of her hand and walked to the door. Before he closed it, he heard her say 'Thank you'.

-

The phone on her nightstand rang and she took the receiver. "_What?_"

"I assume, you are feeling better, Parker." Jarod had to smile hearing her custom greeting.

"Like a truck had crushed me."

"It was a mini-van."

"Smart ass. Think you are funny. Stop joking and come to the point."

Jarod was glad to see that Miss Parker was fine and back to her usual self. He couldn't resist on teasing her – at least a little. "Maybe I'm just calling to hear your lovely voice. I missed to hear it since that incident on Carthis."

The brunette spoke slow and pronounced every word as if it was a sentence on its own. "There was _no_ incident." Remembering the warming fire from the fireplace behind them, his sparkling chocolate eyes watching her with that understanding and care she hadn't seen in anyone else' eyes before. Not even in the man's she had thought her father as long as she could remember. And the longing that flickered in his dark orbs when their faces drew closer and their lips were about to… suddenly Miss Parker snapped out of her reverie. „Why are you always there for me? Helping me during the most difficult moments of my life?" She had asked him that one back on the Island of the Haunted.

Jarod leaned backing in his chair in front of his desk. "Cuz I remember a little girl, that got lost a long time ago, like that boy she used to care about. She is just about to wake up from that lie, she calls _life_."

"What if she doesn't want to wake up anymore, Jarod."

"The truth about our lives is out there. The truth our mothers tried to find thirty years ago."

Miss Parker leant back into her pillows, already knowing his respond. „You are not giving up?"

„Neither do you…. As Ocee'd said, on Carthis, my journey – our journey had just begun. The truth is out there – even with the scrolls destroyed."

"You are still looking for that different ending?" Her voice was almost melancholic.

"There are still many secrets hidden and well locked up in the depths of The Centre. ... Are you going to pass your father's legacy on to your children?" With that he disconnected the call, while his attention was centred on his laptop's monitor, showing a confidential file from one of The Centre's many secret research facilities.

**- **

**A/N:** If you liked it, please leave a review (you can also tell me if you didn't like it…). And tell me if I should write a sequel to this ficlet, revealing more about the scrolls and the prophesy-stuff.


	2. New leads New questions

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1. The here mentioned firm Seronon, was made up by me and has totally nothing to do with the real firm by that name. I just came up with the same name and used it, before I googled it.

**A/N:** Big thanks for the nice reviews!

Other than planned this isn't a sequel, but the next chapter. I'd originally intended to call this sequel 'The Parker Legacy', cuz it's a more fitting title to what I've in mind. But since I updated it as a new chapter and not as a new file, I'm going to change the title of 'Helping the Lost' to 'The Parker Legacy'.

I will also change the layout of the _first _chapter and fix some spelling mistakes, I found. But all in all nothing will change in the first chappie.

So here is the continuing of my fanfic; I hope you'll enjoy it -)

In this fanfic, I suppose that IotH played sometime in September. I dunno, if it's snowing in Sep/Oct. in Scottland, but in my counrty it does sometimes (seldom) in early October and I'm way more south than Scottland is. And after all it was a cursed island and every thing is possible then -)

-

_Chapter 2_

_The Centre  
__Blue Cove, Delaware  
__11/30/01 - Friday_

Two months had past since her car accident in Boston and since that time she hadn't heard anything from the pretender. No hints, no annoying mails, no midnight calls. Not even a get-well-present. He had really vanished from The Centre radar this time.

A part of her hoped that this state wouldn't last for good – not only because of the pressure her new father performed on her for not finding Jarod. Some little voice inside her was worried about his whereabouts. On the other hand, this voice told her that it was just fine that he was out there without The Centre on his heels. And this little voice was _not_ her Inner Sense.

Neither she had heard anything from her little brother Ethan. It gnawed on her that the last notice she had from him was months old. After all he was her only normal family left.

She shook her head, telling herself that that wasn't true. Her gaze travelled to the photos on her desk – the one of her mother holding a baby Miss Parker; the next one of Miss Parker as a grown woman together with the man she'd thought her father for so long; and finally the third picture of herself holding Baby Parker. After all she had her baby brother, if it was what he really was to her. She lifted the framed image and traced his little features with her index finger. She wondered if he was her cousin, Mr.Parker's only real child; or if he was indeed her little brother, what meant that Raines had his genes in play – once more.

She couldn't help, but pushed those depressing thoughts away. At the moment it didn't matter, who their father was – the only thing that made her feel better, was the knowledge that this little guy was a Parker and with that the only normal family she had at the moment- even if it was a lie.

Ever since Mr.Parker's supposed death some miles in front of the North African coast, she had taken care of the youngest Parker. Not that she had claimed custody or anything alike – but once a week, every Sunday, she took the almost 19 months old boy home with her and spent some time with the toddler. Only two things made her feel miserable; one was the circumstance that the little guy spent his whole time at the Centre's nursery since his father's death. And two was the fact that she as the oldest Parker heir didn't even know her baby brother's first name. 'Ironic… he doesn't know my first name either.'

Since the envelope with all her brother's papers was at a place out of her knowledge and she didn't know how to address him – instead of baby brother – she came to the conclusion that he needed a real name. So she secretly christened him Tommy some weeks ago.

She placed the photo back on her desk and gazed back at the sheet of paper in front of her computer keyboard. It was an almost three year old Centre memo. Some weeks before she had made Broots dig in her father's office. She didn't know, what she wanted him to find there – she just had the feeling there would be a hint for the truth. Broots had found the paper in a carton in Mr. Parker's old office, Dr. Raines' new one. Because of Raines' moving in at that time, he wasn't sure if it was one of her father's boxes or of Raines'.

The short message read that 12-072463-03 should be delivered on 03-01-99 to a facility called Seronon. They had found out that Seronon was a virology research facility in San Josè, California, with ties to The Centre. And what 12-072463-03 meant, knew Miss Parker for sure: it was an ID-code for one of the Red Files – for _her_ Red File.

The only thing that didn't make any sense was the fact that she, 12-072463-03, was still at The Centre. But maybe, it was _only_ a part from her that was delivered then. Two days before the order was executed, she was in hospital because of her ulcer.

Now she was eager to find out, what exactly The Centre had stolen from her and on what purpose. Sydney and Broots would cover for her and buy her the needed time; Broots would take Baby Parker for the usual No-Centre-Sunday, telling Raines the upcoming Monday that Miss Parker had brought the child I the evening and told him that she'd have finally a cue on Jarod. Sydney would inform the devil doctor, that said hint was somewhere in Arizona. That should give her enough time for her visit of Seronon.

-

**A/N:** Let me know if you liked it. I hope the next one will be longer. And no worries, Jarod will show up in the next chapter.


	3. A new Bond that Connects

**A/N:** Here is finally chapter 3 of 'The Parker Legacy'. Sorry that I kept you waiting for so long, but I had to rewrite the whole chapter, changing some details. And this chappie is much longer than the previous ones.

**Big thanks** for all the nice reviews. I hope you'll still read this.

-

_Chapter 3_

_San Josè, California_

_12/01/01 – Saturday - Evening_

The light of a television flickered in a small, dark cottage in the outskirts of San Josè. The news reporter stood in front of a former large building that was now surrounded by debris and ambulance cars. People rushed in the background, the viewer was informed that the number of victims had increased - deaths a gas explosion had caused.

Jarod watched the news about that disaster with mixed feelings – as always he felt deep compassion for the victims and their families. Normally the pretender would have tried to help the victims and the local authorities, but unfortunately he had important business in that city area.

He cast a last look at the ID-numbers of the files, he had memorized earlier and took his black leather jacket. Then he left the hut and went to his rental car.

-

Miss Parker had already planned to make some minor stops on her way to San Josè – she didn't want to leave any direct traces to her destination – not that she had intended to leave any hint behind at all. But as for an abandoned suitcase at the airport's departure terminal, all flights were frozen and she had to rent a car in Whitney, Nevada, which was her last destination by plane. She had no time left for waiting.

For the last hours she drove directly to the industrial area of the northern outskirts. It was already 1am on Sunday morning and she sipped on her nths coffee. About one mile away from the Seronon facility, she parked her vehicle in a small clearing and decided to walk the rest in the shelter of the night.

When she approached, the grounds were fenced in, but she could detect a small gap in the fence. Cautiously she slipped through it and neared the back of the complex. There, as Broots had shown her on a map before, was a delivery entrance with a security panel. He had found out that the security system was based on his program code for the Centre's security software and so he was able to give her a key-card with a program, that would allow her to open all doors and to be unseen by the cameras in the building.

Cautiously she neared the panel next to the delivering entrance, ready to use her card, only to find the door unlocked and the camera set on loop. Frowning and her gun drawn, she slipped through the door and turned her flashlight on to eye the dark hallway. The corridor was long with doors to offices on each side and a lab-entrance on the far end. Miss Parker was about to go to this lab, when her eyes caught a staircase that led down. The brunette looked down and saw a sign with 'SL-01' next to another door. Curious about that familiar appellation she decided to descend and begin her search at the highest sub-level number.

When she past by the floor entrance at SL-04 the door was labelled with 'Restricted Area' and its security panel was also been hacked. She opened the door with her gloved hand and entered the floor.

On the opposite side of the stairs were storage rooms, with cages full of rabbits, rats and other animals, on the right there was a long dark hallway, she decided to follow. From time to time there was a door on one of the sides, with more lab pets. When Miss Parker heard footsteps sneak up behind the next corner, she stopped half a metre before the bend, her weapon drawn and aimed at whoever it was that disturbed her research. Some seconds passed before the person rounded the corner and abruptly stopped, when he faced the muzzle of the brunette's gun.

She had missed those chocolate eyes staring at her – not that she had missed the shock and surprise that were evident in those dark orbs at the moment.

Silence hung over them before Jarod's astonishment disappeared. "Don't tell me you had a feeling again."

"Not everything is about you, wonderboy." Miss Parker didn't know why, but she slowly lowered her gun and stepped closer to the pretender. "Broots found a Centre memo concerning my Red File-code. Why are you here, Jarod?"

A faint smirk appeared on his features, his eyes lighting up. "Then you aren't giving up either to find the truth."

Miss Parker let out an annoyed snort. She wasn't in the mood for his mind games. "Happy to be right again!"

"Just happy to see your beautiful face again." Passion blazed in his eyes for a moment, but disappeared as he turned his back at her and went towards a lab.

She decided to ignore his comment and followed him. "Where are you going? – Why are you here? What answers are here? … Jarod?"

By the time they had arrived at the closed sliding doors of a huge lab, he turned around to respond. "I'm not sure myself, but we'll know soon. The only thing I know for sure is that this facility is manipulating human DNA. The virology research is just cover up."

"And they have _my_ DNA." Miss Parker's voice was only a whisper and Jarod's expression told her that he already knew. "What else do you know? Tell me!"

"I have never left you in the dark, Miss Parker. I always shared the information I had with you." Jarod had already worked at the key-card-scanner and was about to take care for the cameras, when Miss Parker slid a key card through the scanner. Astonished he looked up to her, a smirk plastered over her face.

"Broots wrote a little program for me."

"Almost sounds, he did voluntarily." Jarod took out of his black duffle bag a iron bar and turned to the brunette. "Help me to open the door and you'll get your answers."

Without hesitation Miss Parker stepped to the sliding doors and put her fingers in the small slot between the two doors, as did Jarod. Together they opened them enough that the pretender could lay the bar between the doors, so they wouldn't slide back together.

Parker was the first to enter the lab through the small gap. She heard the pretender follow her and she used her flashlight to give them more insight into the lab's equipment. The room hold a counter in the middle with cupboards above it, tables with computers in a far corner, a sideboard on the longest wall and two big refrigerators in another corner.

Jarod approached the computers, while Parker went to the fridges. "You can't boot them, genius. They would know."

"But I can take the HDDs." He answered flatly and concentrated on opening the pcs. He slid one part of the casing back and plugged the HDD out off the two cables. Then he did the same with the other three computers.

Parker opened the door to the first fridge. On the first of the four shelves were cell cultures, on the second and third blood samples and on the last one fluids labelled with 'meiosis1' and 'meiosis 2' and 'Evolution'.

The other refrigerator held almost the same content, except for the sperm and ovum samples that was also labelled, as everything else, with numbers. This shelf and the one with the blood were marked with 'NuGenesis'. Parker decided to take a closer look at the sample numbers and ascertained that one of the numbers was a date and the other one a code. All the NuGenesis-samples weren't older than three months, so she examined the rest of the blood.

-

Jarod was already at his last computer when Miss Parker finally found a sample beginning with 12-072463, just it ended with 01 and not 03. She took the one and looked at the date, that read 22-10-89. Next to the sample she found another two with the same code, only with other dates – 30-05-75 and 04-02-81. After some more minutes she found two objects with her Red-File code on them. But when Parker looked on the dates, she was totally confused. Neither of the two samples was labelled 01-03-99; they were both much older – 13-09-87 and 08-09-92. 'The yearly routine check ups.'

The brunette took all five blood samples and went to Jarod, who was finished with his HDD-theft. "Does the number 12-072463-01 say something to you?"

Jarod's face showed a little surprise. "That's my Red-File code."

"As I thought."

He looked at his blood in the glass for a moment before he held the small bag out to her. Hesitating a little she put all samples to the HDDs and watched the pretender close the bag's zipper. "What else was in the fridge?"

"Cell cultures, sperm, ovum and fluids labelled with two different meiosis states and 'Evolution'. But nothing with our codes. Some samples were assigned to NuGenesis."

Jarod simply nodded and went to the door at the other end of the lab. It wasn't locked and he entered the storage room. Jarod's eyes fell immediately on the file-containers on the opposite wall. He approached them and broke the locks open. He found Parker's and his file in the one container and the other file-code he was looking for in another container.

By the time he had opened the first container Parker had stepped into the room. Other than him, her gaze firstly fell on the long rows of shelves – or more precise their content. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw the huge glass bottles filled with human embryos in different evolving states, all with mutations and dysplasias. Similar pictures from Donoterase flashed before her inner eyes. Disgusted she turned away and walked over to Jarod. When she came to a stop next to him, he was reading in a file, but he put it in his bag as soon as he noticed her. On her questioning gaze he said: "Our answers." Then he went back to the door.

"Then let me have a look at them."

"No. The guards will make their round in less than a quarter hour. And when they do, I don't wanna be here anymore." Before he left the room, he faced her one last time. "I assume _Daddy_ doesn't know anything about your little trip and if it should stay that way, you better come with me."

-

Jarod was glad that Miss Parker was here with him, without any intention of catching him. For one – he had missed her- and two – it would make things easier, when she was with him finding some parts of the puzzle they called their lives. But he wasn't sure, if she was ready for those answers in his bag yet.

Before he left the lab he approached the refrigerators, opened them and threw all their contents on the floor, blending blood, cells, sperm and glass with each other. Then he turned around and stepped towards the sliding doors. When he was outside the lab he looked back inside and saw the brunette staring at the heap in front of the fridges. "C'mon, Parker. We don't have much time." Her gaze travelled towards him and when it rested on his features, he lifted his brows, signalling her to come.

Slowly she moved to the door and the pretender helped her over the iron bar, which he removed from the doors afterwards. Then he led them back to the staircase and walked up.

-

They had almost reached the delivery entrance, when they heard voices approaching. Jarod stopped in his tracks, signalling Parker to do the same. Concentrating on the sounds, he decided the guards were in the next corridor at the far end and were walking their way. Casting a last gaze in that direction, he grasped Miss Parker's arm and pulled her slowly toward the door, they'd both used to enter the building.

The pretender opened the iron door, causing the hinges to squeak. Stillness. The moment of complete silence followed a panicked look of Jarod back into the hallway where two armed guards came running. "Freeze!" one of them shouted. But Miss Parker shoved Jarod through the exit and both ran to the gap in the fence. Jarod held the wire to the left, while the brunette climbed through the opening. Then he handed her the bag and followed. The guards had already reached the delivery entrance and rushed over to the fence, their guns ready.

Miss Parker watched their hunters approach, thanking the starless night for its darkness. As she waited for Jarod to pass through the gap, she turned her head to him. "I hope you have an escape plan ready to hand, wonder boy."

"Of course. It's called running."

Sighing frustrated she followed him, her grip strengthened around the bag's strap. Suddenly the thunder of shoots drowned out the clapping of her heels on the asphalt. A sharp pain rushed through her right shoulder and her legs gave away. She fell forward, softened her impact on the hard subsoil with her left hand

As Jarod heard a scream from behind, he immediately turned towards Parker, who laid on the ground holding her shoulder. "Parker!" Hardly a second past until Jarod was next to her and helped her up to her feet, taking the bag from her. He was relieved that she wasn't unconscious and he dragged her up the little hill that encircled the half of the facility area.

Parker kept running into the woods that extended 200 metres from the research complex. Her legs felt like pudding and she had to muster all her strength to keep going and not to faint. She looked at her injured shoulder, the blood seeping through her brown lather coat, then her eyes travelled down to her numb hand, that still held firmly her Smith'n Wesson. Jarod must have noticed that and he took the weapon – holding it in the same hand as the bag - while his arm slung closer around her waist, supporting her.

As soon as they arrived at his car, Jarod helped Parker in the passenger seat. When he closed the door, he looked up toward the facility and saw the guards'd already passed the hill and were only moments away from them. He run to the driver site of the vehicle, threw the bag and gun at the backseat and jumped behind the steering wheel. The car speeded away just as the guards reached the woods.

-

Jarod pulled in the driveway to the small cottage – his current lair. He was worried about Miss Parker. She was conscious, but very pale and what troubled him the most was that she stood silent the entire drive. An unusual behaviour of the Ice Queen.

Gently he helped her out of the car and to the entrance. He saw her astonished features, when she entered his recent home. "You brought me to your lair!"

"Yeah. Where else?" He led her to his bed. "Sit down."

Her eyes met his and he was sure to see the flame of stubbornness blazing in those blue orbs. "No. I'm fine. It stopped bleeding"

"You are not. I want to have a look at your injury, Parker." Reluctant she followed his order and watched him fetch a first aid kit.

The brunette hissed, once he removed her coat. She shot him the glare of death, when he dared to pull her sweater up and her hands caught his.

"Parker." He demanded, lifting his brows.

She hesitated a moment before she pulled her hands away. "Don't get the wrong thoughts, lab rat."

"What thoughts?" he asked with feign innocence and sat down in front of her. He resisted the desire to have a closer look at her upper body that was now only cover by her black bra. Jarod turned the lamp on the nightstand on and examined the wound. "No bullet. It's a grazing shot… but a huge flesh wound. I'll have to stitch it up." Knowing exactly what to do he first cleaned the injury, injected Miss Parker a pain killer and then stitched her up.

Miss Parker decided to stare at something else than her shoulder and her view fell to the photos on the couch table. After some minutes of silence she began to feel uncomfortable and looked at Jarod's concentrated, yet relaxed face. "Have you seen your family again?"

"No. Not since that subway incident." He answered shortly and bandaged the suture.

Parker closed the eyes for a moment. "I miss him, Jarod. I want to know if he's all right."

Jarod knew she was talking about their mutual brother Ethan. "I'm sure he is." When he was done with his work, his brown eyes met hers. "I miss him, too. … I miss them all."

Unconsciously she enclosed his hand in hers and her gaze travelled back to the pictures. "I know." As she noticed a woman other than Magaret on one of the photos, she immediately let go of his hands. Unsure if she wanted it to know, she asked. "Who is that woman?"

Jarod followed her gaze, startled by the sudden loss of physical contact. Realising which person she meant he walked to the table and picked the said picture up. He went back to her and sat down next to her. "That's Emily. My sister." His heart jumped, when he registered the relief on her face.

"Have you seen her at all?"

"Twice. She was the one, who told me and Dad about Ethan." Jarod laid the damaged image on the nightstand and handed her one of his shirts and helped her to get dress.

Silently they sat next to each other, their shoulders touching lightly.

"Why did you vanish? Why now?" Miss Parker's voice was just a whisper and she turned her head towards him, meeting his intense gaze.

"Maybe I thought, there wasn't anything left at The Centre that was worth looking back." Jarod looked deep in her blue eyes, noticing desire and lust in them. His face drew closer – as did hers - and he breathed the rest of his respond. "Maybe I was wrong."

"Maybe." Rang from her lips, a beat later those lips had touched his.

This first kiss was light and innocent, like the one they had shared as children so many years ago. Miss Parker lifted her uninjured hand to his face, touching his warm cheek. Sliding her fingers through his long dark locks, she relaxed completely against his touch.

Jarod's heart beat wildly in his chest. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her body closer to him. The kiss continued until the need of breath, parted the two. "Why can't it always be like this?" Jarod looked deep into her eyes, hoping for the right answer.

"'Cuz you run, I chase." Her gaze broke away from his face.

Jarod got annoyed about her change of heart. He knew she wanted this like he did. She was just too afraid and much too stubborn to make the first step. "I don't want this anymore. … No I never wanted it to be like this. I just want a normal life. To be free. I know you also want this."

Snorting, Miss Parker turned away. She didn't like it when _he_ told her about _her_ feelings. "Don't be ridiculous!"

Jarod considered his next words, giving it one last try. His voice sounded determineded and a little angry. "It's up to you to give _us_ a chance, Parker. - This might be your last turning point. Don't give it away." A little softer he added. "Not like this."

Hard headed she starred at the wooden floor and stayed silent.

After a while just watching her, Jarod whispered. "I'm going to vanish. This time for good."

Shocked Parker turned to face the pretender. She could see it in his eyes that he wasn't joking. "What? Why now?"

"Once I have what I'm searching for, it will be better to stay as far away from The Centre radar as possible." Jarod had decided it was time for her to know about Seronon's secrets.

"And what exactly is it you are looking for?" Parker followed his gaze to the black bag that contained the answers they'd stolen tonight.

Jarod looked back into his hands that lay folded in his lap and took a deep breath. "Some years before I escaped, The Tower wanted me to do a sim about artificial Recombination on human DNA. I should develop a method that would allow any type of cells to run through the meioses phase and become fertilizes able haploid cells." He stood up and approached the bag. Slowly he retrieved the files and opened one of them. Then he turned to Parker, who listened carefully, expecting the worst. "I enabled The Centre to create a human being out of someone's cells."

"Someone's!" Suddenly Parker shivered, knowing what he would say next. Reluctantly she looked in the file he was holding out to her. She recognized the Red File IDs next to a baby's photo, while hearing Jarod's pressed voice. "Ours." Slowly she reached for the sheets of paper, starring like hypnotized at the two IDs – hers and Jarods. She couldn't believe that the Centre had done this to her, that the Tower, her father, could be able to do this to her – to anybody. But there were definitive her and Jarod's IDs black on white on that paper.

Parker kept starring on the letters for a moment, feeling that Jarod had sat down next to her, her gaze travelled to the little chubby face on the photo. Unconsciously she asked "The file doesn't say the child's sex." Jarod didn't answer her, just watched her. The brunette's eyes fell at the word under the image. 'Evolution' "The codename. I saw the word 'Evolution' on some of the samples and cell cultures at Seronon." Suddenly Parker looked up and met the pretender's gaze. "What if there are more?"

"Then I will take them all. I'm not going to leave any of my children in the Centre's hands. No matter how they were conceived." Jarod watched Parker looking back at the child's picture, emotions clouding her eyes. Unsure what to do, he moved closer and slipped his arm around her shoulders – embracing her.

This action caused Miss Parker to shove his arm away and to slide half a metre away from him. Anger and disappointment blazed in her eyes. "Is it because of the child, we might have, that you think we could be a happy family, with the big house and white picket fences!"

First startled by her new rejection, he began to grasp, what she really feared. "No!" He took a deep breath and let it slowly out, before he continued. "You were my first love, back then, when we were kids. And now I fell in love with you for a second time. …It's more that these feelings for you have never really stopped."

Miss Parker was totally stunned "You are saying, you love me!"

Jarod sighed. "I hoped you'd have figured that out at Carthis." Gently he took her hands in his. "I know, who you are, Parker. I know your tough side that just wants to protect the little girl deep inside, who cares for her beloved ones. I know that you yearn for a loving family, a shoulder to rely on, someone who knows the truth about your job and family and for whom those doesn't matter." Looking into her blue eyes. "I love you, Parker."

Miss Parker kept starring amazed about that sincere confession. After a while she lifted her hand to his chin-long hair, toying with his dark strands. "How long are you going to let your hair grow?"

Jarod watched her face, uncertain what to expect. Until two minutes ago, he was sure, she felt the same for him, but now after his declaration, fear nagged at him. "You don't like it!"

"I like the hair of my man shorter than mine." Her eyes travelled from his strands to his face.

"_Your_ man!" Jarod began to smile and saw how a bright smile formed on Parker's beautiful face. She bent forward and kissed him passionately, her arms slung around his neck and her fingers ran through his mane.

Jarod's heart glowed for joy, after five years and at least two direct rejections she finally knew his feelings and returned them. He knew how hart it is for her to say those three little words, he yearned to hear, but he knew better than to push her. And calling him 'her man' was her way of saying it.

The passionate kiss lasted long and when their lips finally parted for an inch, Jarod began kissing his way up to her earlobe. "I wanna see you more often. … Every day." He whispered into her ear.

These words remembered the Ice Queen, in whose arms she lay at the moment. She felt helpless – torn between her duty and her feelings for her prey. "You know. We can't have the hunt for the truth and a relationship at the same time. Not with The Centre…"

Jarod silenced her with another loving kiss. "We are good in hiding and pretending. We could give it a try."

Parker considered this and answered between kisses. "At least for a while…. Until we have the child."

A warm smile appeared on Jarod's face. "Our child."

Suddenly a deep buzz startled Miss Parker and she yanked away from her pretender's lips. She looked confused through the room, locating the source of the disturbing noise on the nightstand. Annoyed Parker freed herself from Jarod's embrace and beat on the alarm clock with her fist. "You get up at 4.30 in the morning!" Wide eyed she shot a glare at the man, she loved.

"The early bird catches the worm." Jarod replied with a smirk.

"Oh, you learned some idioms out here."

"Yup. And I had no reason to stay longer in bed… until now." And evil grin crept on his features and he raised his brows. His eyes travelled down her body and he stood up.

"You think, you would get me that easily, wonderboy?" she teased him.

Jarod approached her and kissed her passionately on her swollen lips, she immediately gave in to this new burning kiss – way too fast for her stubbornness.

Suddenly Jarod broke away and took her hands in his, planting a kiss on each of her palms. "We will have enough time, Parker, once you and the child are save – far away from the Centre." He met her startled face. "I'm not gonna leave you behind." Jarod fetched her coat and gun and brought them over to her. "But now, it's better to pretend that you don't know anything about Seronon's researches. I need you inside the Centre, to be my eyes there."

Parker sighed and run her hand through her hazelnut colored hair. "It isn't like I can just disappear like this. It would have bad consequences for Sydney, Broots, Angelo and Tommy."

Confusion appeared on the pretender's face and he raised an eyebrow. "Tommy?"

"My baby brother. I secretly named him Tommy. - You didn't know?" Miss Parker was surprised about his lack of knowledge. Normally he would even know the color of her blouse, when he phoned her.

"No, I didn't. Tommy - it's a nice gesture to give him that name." He smiled at her, one of those warm and true smiles, that told her trusting Jarod was the only right thing she could do.

He helped her slip into her coat, gave her a bag for her torn sweater and opened the door. "I'll drive you to your car. When you reach Vegas before nine, you can get the flight to Chicago."

For a moment she looked at him complete amazed. He knew her route. Shaking her head slightly, she followed him to his car, a smile on her face. "I stopped wondering about you years ago."

-

-

**A/N:** Please let me know, if someone is still reading this fanfic. The next chappie would be about Baby Tommy and Miss Parker. So if you want me to write it, then please tell me.


	4. Shadows

**A/N:** Big thanks for all the nice reviews. I would have updated this chapter yesterday, but it seemed fanfictionNet had some problems, and I couldn't access the site.

ka-mia2286: Thanks. Here is the Tommy-Parker chapter.  
pretender fan: Thanks. Keep reading this story and find out -)  
Sango2: Thanks. Considering your nick, are you an Inuyasha fan?  
Dana: Thanks. Here is the next chapter. Hope you like it as well.  
NG: Thanks for your reviews to both of my Pretender fanfics.  
Jar-Par Fan: Thanks. I'm happy that my first reviewer to this story is still reading it.  
NYT: Thanks. Here you go; the next chapter is up.

-

_Chapter 4  
The Centre  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
12/08/01_

A week had past, since Miss Parker's trip to San Josè and her thoughts were still filled with the newly found information. She could hardly bring herself to concentrate on her work, not only because she despised her duty now more than ever. Her job was to catch the man, who had confessed his love for her, for whom she knew in the deeps of her heart, she felt the same.

She missed Jarod so badly. Somehow she wished for his childish and annoying hints, that kept her occupied with … him. Then she would know that he hasn't vanished for good and had left her in the prison, she called her life. But a part of her told her, that he hadn't abandoned her, that he had a very good reason to disappear. He would come for her – but before he could do so, he had to find their child. _Their_ child - Miss Parker wondered what mother she would make, after all her experiences and bad habits.

She shook her head to clear it and stepped away from the window in her office. The brunette went to the door, left her room and locked it. Since it was Saturday afternoon she walked down to SL-03 to the new nursery to fetch her baby brother. She inwardly hoped that the little guy could bring her on other thoughts than Jarod and the child.

That newly renovated sub-level looked exactly like all the others: grey, sterile, cold and without sun light. Shortly after his first birthday, Tommy vanished out of his room on the second floor of the Centre's main building and the only time Miss Parker saw him was when she'd visited her father – Mr. Parker – at a weekend's evening. Even then the only one that acknowledged the boy's presence in the huge house, were the two nurses. Mr. Parker seemed to don't care if the boy was under his roof or at a Centre's sub-level. When she'd asked her father about the room change, the Centre's chairman'd answered the boy would have a better room in the Centre now, where he could be better educated than in his old one.

Once she approached the room she heard a male voice inside. She opened the door slowly and entered the nursery. Her gaze fell upon her brother sitting in front of their baby brother and immediately her stomach clenched. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen Lyle acknowledging the baby boy's presence or even existence.

Miss Parker watched her brothers for a short moment. Fear crept up inside her, when she saw Lyle touch Tommy.

Lyle tapped Tommy on his little nose and held his intact thumb, hidden between two fingers, to the little boy. "I have your nose." The infant looked at the hand, unsure what to think about that strange man and his behaviour.

"And the Yakuza has your thumb." Miss Parker walked to Lyle, hiding the relief she felt, when she saw the little guy not harmed.

As soon as Tommy saw her, he held his small arms up in her direction. "Sis." Miss Parker instantly lifted him up into her arms and his hands grabbed the collar of her blouse.

"What are you doing here, Lyle?"

Lyle turned to look at his older sister. "Does I need your permission to see Baby Parker? Or, are you jealous that the little man and I get along so well?"

"I'm big boy." Chirped Tommy determined and gave the man a scowl.

"Sure, he really seems to like you." Miss Parker held her gaze at her twin until he answered.

Lyle went towards the door, feeling his sister's eyes on him. He briefly turned around to her. "The nurse left earlier and he was screaming his little head off, when I went by."

"Why did the nurse leave earlier?"

"Dunno." Shrugging he left the room.

-

Miss Parker placed her purchases in the almost empty cupboards, while Tommy stood next to the grocery bags watching her with wide eyes. Suddenly he looked inside the bags and hove a paper-box of milk and walked direct to the refrigerator. Then he put it down and tried to open the door of the fridge, but failed.

Irritated Miss Parker eyed the empty spot next to the bags – normally Tommy would stay close to her. She cast a look into the living room, but couldn't see him. "Tommy?"

A light "Here." came from behind her and she moved toward his voice. A smile appeared on the brunette's features, when she saw the little boy struggling with the huge door of the refrigerator. She closed the distance between them and crouched down in front of him. "What are you doing, Tommy?"

The infant loosened his grip on the door and looked up to his sister. "Heping."

"You mean helping. Hel-ping."

He thought about her words for a moment and then repeated the word. "Helping." When this action made his sister smile, he said it once more and grinned himself.

"How about you bringing the food to me and I put it into the cupboards?" She tousled his dark brown hair and stood up. Immediately Tommy nodded and ran giggling to the grocery bags.

-

It was almost six o'clock in the evening and the winter sun was already setting, when Miss Parker walked into her kitchen once again, Tommy on her heels. On the stove the noodles were cooking and the brunette opened the refrigerator to fetch some carrots. "Fluffy also wants his supper."

Tommy watched his sister washing the vegetables and cutting off the leaves. "Me, too."

"You want a carrot? Our meal is almost ready, honey."

"No. Wanna cut."

Hearing this Miss Parker paused and cowered down to the little guy's eyelevel. "Tommy, knives and scissors are dangerous. Only adults are allowed to use them. If you get hurt, I would be very sad. Do you want to make me sad?"

"No."

"You won't touch a knife or scissors. Do you understand, Tommy?"

"Understand."

Miss Parker watched the toddler for a moment, wondering if he'd really understood what she wanted him to do – or better not to do. She stood up and finished the cutting. Then she turned to the boy and held one carrot to him. "Here you can feed this to Fluffy."

Tommy grasped the vegetable with one hand and with the other his sister's fingers. Together they walked to the second floor and the guest room, that lay at the opposite side to her bed room. In a corner of the guest room next to the window stood a cage with a big white rabbit in it.

Parker kneeled down in front of it, opened the door and retrieved the pet, while Tommy sat down next to her. Then she placed the animal in the boy's lap, that was now complete covered with white fur.

Immediately the child held the carrot to the rabbit and the animal began eating. "He eats, sis." He stated proudly and grinned.

The brunette laid the other carrots into the cage and turned her head toward her baby brother. "That's good. Be careful, that he doesn't nab you by accident."

"OK." The boy began stroking the rabbit with his free hand, watched by his sister, who smiled glad at the peaceful picture.

-

In the early evening, Parker and Tommy were having supper in the kitchen. The boy was sitting on a pile of books and a pillow, so he was able to reach past the table top. Happily he forked some of his spaghetti and put them into his mouth – or more precise – smearing most of them and the sauce on his cheeks and bib.

"Ok, no more spaghetti for you, lil' piggy." Miss Parker wanted to feed him, but the child insisted on being a big boy and eating without any help.

"No! More slaretti." Grinning he took another scoop of pasta.

His sister eyed him, wondering if the little guy was already that hard-headed as she was now. 'A real Parker, huh?' "Nope. Next week we'll try pizza with a lot of cheese, sweetie." She sipped at her red wine and watched the joyful little boy, remembering their first meal together more than two months ago.

_It was already late in the morning, when Parker and Tommy sat in the kitchen having their first meal together. Parker sat directly next to him and fed him with scrambled eggs. She was astonished that the little boy was eating so quite and well-behaved. No crying or rejection of food was originated from her baby brother. And on top of that, his face and fingers were all clean._

_Suddenly an egg fell from the corner of his mouth down on his bib and rolled in his lap. Tommy's eyes widened in fear and panic and he pressed himself into the backrest, when Parker grasped for the food on his clothes. "Didn't want. Thorry."_

_Immediately his sister stopped in her movement and looked into the boy's scarred features. "Baby brother? What's wrong?"_

"_Don't hurt."_

_Miss Parker's eyes went wide in understanding. "I'm not gonna hurt you, baby brother." Slowly she grasped the egg, put it back on the plate and took the boy and sat him onto her lap. Carefully she laid her arm around his small shoulders, stroking his little hands. "I could never hurt you. The egg just fell on your clothes. It's not fine, but not the world's ending either." _

_She kissed the top of his head and put her chin on his dark brown hair, holding the child tight. After a while she felt the boy relax in her embrace and she began stroking him. "No one's gonna hurt you. Do you understand?" As a respond he leaned against her chest and griped the collar of her sweater. _

"Finisd, sis." Parker was pulled out of her reverie and her gaze fell first on the half empty plate and then on Tommy's dirty mouth, cheeks and hands. She smiled, glad that he wasn't afraid anymore. "What am I doing with a dirty little piggy?" She stalked slowly over to the child, dashed forward and tickled him at his belly. He squeaked and laughed hysterically.

After a while she picked him up and carried the toddler in the bath room. She turned the water on and helped him washing his hands. "Is the water too hot, sweetie?"

"No."

When his hands were more or less clean, she put him down and took a washcloth. Tommy giggled, once his sister wiped the tomato sauce from his mouth. She eyed him; his fingernails were still red and his cheeks were glimmering orange. "I think you have to take a bath."

"Bass?" the boy moved his head a little to the side and looked at her puzzled.

"Yes, a bath." She went over to her bathtub and turned the water on. Then Miss Parker fetched a huge fleecy bath towel from a stack and laid it ready to hand on the lavatory lid. She kneeled down in front of the boy and began to undress him.

The tub was hardly filled and Parker checked the water temperature, before she lifted Tommy up. As soon as the little guy saw the water, he began crying and stroke out wildly. "No! Don wanna!" He dug his fingers into Miss Parker's blouse and thick tears ran down his red cheeks.

Shocked by her brother's sudden outburst, the brunette embraced the child immediately and cradled him. "God, what have they done to you?" She let herself fall on the tiles and sat his petite body on her lap. "Oh, Tommy." Her arms slung closer around the child's shoulders. She watched him bury his tear streamed face in her chest, whimpering heavily, before tears welled up in her own blue orbs. "What have they done, my baby boy?" She kissed the top of his head and pushed inwardly all possible scenarios in the back of her mind.

-

After a little eternity, just crying and holding each other, Tommy's whimpering subsided and Parker loosened their embrace. Her brother looked up and his red, puffy eyes searched for hers. She gently wiped the salty rivers away from his cheeks. "I didn't want to scare you. I love you, baby brother." Parker brushed a kiss on his downy head, but when her gaze met his face again, his expression was not frightened anymore, but puzzled.

A single word rang from his lips and he tilted the head. "Love?"

Miss Parker starred at the boy for a while. "Do you know what love is, Tommy?"

The toddler shook his head 'no', but his eyes never left her face, while doing so.

"Love is a feeling in your heart." His sister touched his chest. "You love someone, when you like spending your time with and when you want that nothing will ever happen to that certain person."

Thinking a moment, Tommy bent forward to kiss Miss Parker's cheek. "Then I love you, sis." He smiled content, so one could see his baby teeth.

Miss Parker was taken aback by the one year old's statement. Eyeing his bright smile and sparkling eyes, she stroked his head absently.

A minute or two had past before she helped him stand up from her lap. "You are scared by so much water, aren't you?" She held his tiny hands in hers, thinking about how she could make him feel better – how she could help him fight the demons the Centre had caused.

The brunette's gaze travelled through her bathroom and stopped at a bottle. Instantly she stood up and fetched it to pour some of its content into the tub. She turned the water on once again and helped with her hand to make bubbles. After a while the whole tub was filled with white foam and she took some of the light mass in her palm.

Cautiously she held the foam in front of Tommy, so he could inspect it. He closed the distance between his face and the bubbles, curious poking his fingers in it. "Soft." Eager to investigate further into this new thing, he tried to grasp the foam between his two hands, but failed and pressed all the bubbles out of his palms, cause them to run down his arms. "More, sis."

"When you want more, you have to look into the tub." She took his hand and led him to the tub. "Just look into it, k?" Miss Parker lifted him up a little to enable him to see past the margin. She grinned, when she saw his eyes widen in awe. "See, the water hides from the foam." He stretched his small arms toward the bubble sea. "Do you want to go to the bubbles, Tommy?"

With sparkling eyes he looked up to her. "Yeah, sis."

"Fine." She took him gently and sat him down into the tub. "Here you go." Smiling she watched her baby brother throwing the foam up in the air, all his fears forgotten.

-

-

PLEASE REVIEW

Reviews make me happy and when I'm happy I'm in the right mood of writing -)


	5. Midnight Call

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, but I'm amidst a row of test at uni.

Thanks for all the nice reviews. I'm glad you liked the last chapter.

* * *

_Chapter 5_

The light of the moon fell through a gap of the closed curtains and covered the two sleeping forms that lay peacefully in the king-size bed. The smaller body was curled up against the larger one, an arm securely draped over him. Suddenly the phone on the nightstand began ringing, ripping both from their dreams.

Groaning Parker fetched the receiver directly after the second ring. Her eyes darted from her baby brother to the digital clock on her nightstand, that read 3.04am. Annoyed and still very sleepy she barked her usual 'What!' in a low voice into the receiver.

Next to her Tommy yawned and rubbed his still closed eye with his hand. Immediately the brunette turned back to her baby brother and stroked his little head with her free hand. "Shh, honey."

"Honey?" asked a very confused sounding man on the other end of the line.

As soon as Miss Parker was sure, the child still slept, she sat up in her bed, a pillow in her back. "You sound jealous, Jarod." A glad smile was on her lips. Though she was happy the pretender finally called her, she couldn't resist in teasing him a little. "You are disappointing me, wonder boy. You really don't know anymore what's up in my life, do you?" One moment later she felt sorry she'd said that. She knew he wanted to be a part of her life.

The pretender also sat in his bed some hundred miles away from the woman he was talking to right now, a frown evident on his forehead. Deeply in thought his brown eyes moved fast. "Who is with you at three in the morning, Parker?"

"Huh, you really are jealous." The brunette looked down on the sleeping boy next to her and her hand rested protective on his back. "You must know there is someone who also confessed his love for me tonight. And this certain someone lays next to me at the moment."

"Parker?"

Jarod sounded hurt and she sighed, deciding this wasn't the right topic to tease him. "There is no reason to be jealous. The adorable guy in bed with me still wears diapers."

Enlightenment appeared on Jarod's features and the heaviness that covered his heart vanished. "Your baby brother is with you?" He raised a brow, waiting for her confirmation.

"I take him home with me on the weekends."

"And Raines allows that just like that?"

"Surly not. But after Dad's death I began thinking about my family-tree once again and wondered what'd happened to my baby brother. He was like vanished from the earth's face and the only place he could have been was The Centre. I went to Raines, and like always my evil twin was right there in our father's office. I demanded to see him and Lyle just asked why. I said that I just wanted to make sure that it was cared for the boy, now after his father's death. Raines and Lyle exchanged strange looks and the devil doctor gave me his permission to see the child in the evening."

"Really? Without reasoning and threatening?"

"More or less, yes. When I reached the sub-level a nurse already awaited me and brought me to the nursery wing. There she showed me to his room, which remembered me so much at Gemini's: no windows, no color, no warmth; only grey cement walls, a cot with metal bars, a small table and stool. The only difference was the blue blanket in his bed and the various toys in a shelf, out of his reach. But all of these toys had an educational purpose.

Tommy sat sad on his cot, hugging his blanket, watching me with wide eyes. When I approached him, he immediately stood up, as if ready to do whatever I wanted him to do. In that moment he remembered me so much at Gemini, that I couldn't bear seeing him like that. I decided to free him from his prison, even if it was only for some hours."

"So you went to Raines again and he said yes?"

"Would have been wonderful. " Once more Miss Parker sighed. "But I think they had expected something like that. I had to agree that I wouldn't leave Blue Cove and that Raines get a report about every step I do with the boy outside the Centre or my house. And the schedule I'm allowed to have him is really tight. Saturdays in the evening after work I can take him with me and Mondays in the morning he must be back at the nursery before nine AM, otherwise the nurse informs Raines that I broke the agreement."

A sudden silence wrapped around both, after Parker had finished her explanations. "How is your shoulder?"

"Fine. Thank you. Sydney obvious wondered, who stitched me up, but he took care of the wound without further inquiring. … No one except him and Broots know that I'd left Blue Cove last week. I came back just in time, to fetch Tommy and to inform Syd that the cover-up story wasn't necessary." Parker thought for a moment. "Have you found out something, Jarod?"

Instantly the pretender knew she was referring to the answers they had found at Seronon. "Not yet. But I'm on something else at the moment." His eyes fell on the huge box on the other end of the room, a smile creeping on his face. "You know, you are the first to know when I find something out about our child." When the brunette didn't say a word for a minute or two, Jarod wondered if the connection broke. "Parker?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Concern was evident in his voice.

"It's nothing. … I'm sure you'll be a great father…. Just I can't imagine me as a mother."

"But you're taking care of Baby Tommy; and I'm sure you do everything in your power that he's happy and save."

"Sure, but he is my brother and I see him only a little more than a day a week. And by the way, Jarod, he is a really well-behaved and smart little guy. He is really easy to take care for."

"What says that a child with our genes wouldn't be smart and well-behaved! … You are worrying too much about nothing, Parker. You'll be a great mom." Before Jarod disconnected the line, he added. "I won't call weekends' nights, then. I miss and love you."

Hearing the constant beeping in the receiver, she replied in a whisper. "So do I."

- ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - ' - '

_The Centre  
Blue Cove, Delaware  
12/10/01_

Hardly eight am had past, when the doors to Mr. Raines office swung open and Mr. Lyle entered, confident in his position at the corporation. With the new news he was sure that he would be the one keeping his head. He approached the desk, facing his father. "The jet to Memphis will leave in half an hour. This time I'll bring you Jarod."

"Make sure you do." Between every word Raines breathed in the oxygen from the tank next to him. "We need him back here. Our projects are now in more danger than ever before."

"Ethan is like vanished from the earth's face. Not even Parker has any information about his whereabouts. At least Jarod is back on the radar, playing his little tricks again."

"We NEED him as soon as possible. Last week someone broke into our gene-research facility in San Josè."

"Someone?" Lyle's voice sounded ignorant, through he had a guess, who Raines meant.

"Jarod or Major Charles." While saying these names, the doctor's eyes widened with emphasis. "Whoever it was, has information about 'Evolution', Jarod and Ms. Parker. And destroyed all cell-cultures and DNA-samples.

They have already taken Gemini and Mirage from us. We cannot allow them to endanger 'Evolution', too."

"What do you suppose?"

"To bring 'Posteritas' active into our program. "

Mr. Lyle was surprised about this statement, but didn't show this emotion to the outside. "And what is with the future of the Centre; the Parkers?"

"Without the pretender-project, there is no future. The work of decades would be destroyed."

"We still have some DNA-samples of the …parents." Lyle was unsure how to refer to the donors.

"The test-results are promising. We are in no position to waste his talents."

"She won't like the idea." The thought of seeing her devastated brought a smirk on his lips.

"It doesn't matter. It will take some time to arrange things."

Lyle just nodded in understanding, turned on his heel and left for the airport.

-

-

**A/N:** I know this was short, but I REALLY have to learn for my Maths-test on Thursday.

To get everything right in the next chapter, I need the help of you. Can anyone tell me please, if it was shown in the series that Broots knows that Jarod and Ms Parker were close friends as kids? Has he seen a DSA about them?

_Reviews would be nice._


	6. Back in the Game

A/N: Sorry for the long wait

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait! I hope there are still people reading my fanfic.

Here we go:

-

_Chapter __6_

_The Centre_

_Blue Cove, Delaware_

12/10/01

It was early that Monday morning and Broots was confident that this would be a good day. The last three months he spent his time searching for traces of Jarod, where no traces were. Now he finally had good news and he was on his way to Sydney at the moment.

Broots entered the office of the psychiatrist and saw the older man sit in front of a DSA-player, totally absorbed by the pictures he saw. Curious the technician stepped behind the desk and watched the black and white video that showed two children. The girl was telling the boy to lay his hand over his heart and to promise to never tell someone.

Recognizing the boy as a young Jarod, Broots asked. "Is that a sim?"

Startled Sydney turned his head to look at his colleague. He wasn't sure if it was good that Broots had seen this or that the other man was able to sneak up to him. But finally he answered. "No. Surveillance video."

"Who is that little girl talking to Jarod?"

Sydney raised his brows about this question. "Oh, that is Miss Parker, Broots."

Broots began giggling and took a closer look. "Miss Parker?! That's Angelo in the vent behind them. I knew, she knew Jarod as a child – but Angelo?" Now his face showed confusion.

"Miss Parker and Jarod were best friends then." Explained Sydney and turned to the screen.

"Oh, really. Hadn't thought that." Broots watched a young Miss Parker leaning to Jarod's ear and whispering some secret to him. "That's cute."

"It sure is." Syd stopped the DSA at that point, pressed eject and hid the disk in a book of 'Childhood Traumata'. In the middle of the pages a hole was cut out and a stack of DSAs was already hidden there.

Broots eyed the doctor for a moment and his features became serious. "You miss Jarod. "

Sydney hesitated a moment, but answered. "I don't understand why he suddenly vanished after five years of playing cats and mouse with us. Something must have happened at Carthis."

"And M- Miss Parker doesn't want to talk about that island."

"So it is."

"B- but maybe Jarod didn't disappear for good." Broots stepped closer and raised his brows, bowing his head slightly while doing so.

A frown spread on the psychiatrist's forehead and he watched the other man curiously. "What do you mean, Broots?"

"I came here to inform you about it. A really huge package for Miss Parker has arrived at The Centre. Concerning the size and that there is no return address, it must be Jarod."

X X X X X X X X X X X

Ten minutes later three sweepers had brought the package with a lot of trouble down into the sim-room near Sydney's office. Expectantly the psychiatrist watched the men in black suits leave, before he slowly circled the one metre high box, his head leaning thoughtfully in his right hand. Once more he wondered what his protégé had in mind. Inwardly he hoped Jarod was all right and this hint would finally give him some insight into the reasons, that made Jarod disappear for months.

As he was ordered Broots had searched for Angelo and the two men were entering the lab just in the moment, Sydney was about to cut open the paperboard. "W-what are you doing, Sydney. M- miss Parker is going to kill us, if we peek into her package before she does." The tech came to an abrupt halt next to his colleague, gathering enough courage to look directly into the older man's face.

"Calm down, Broots. Miss Parker will arrive down here in more than an hour. I think she would be more upset, when we call her and steal some precious time with her baby brother from her." To be true, Sydney was too excited, to wait for his boss. This was the first sign of life from the man he thought of as his son, in months. He would risk some threatening from the other person, he also felt like a father for.

"Yeah, you might be right." Broots backed off a little, but a second later the fear was back on his features. "B-but…" Before he could finish his track of thoughts, he horrified watched the psychiatrist cut the tape of the package. "O- oh, god. She is going to be so mad!"

Angelo helped silently as always Jarod's mentor to rip the paperboard away and to reveal a box of a miniature graveyard. On the thick wooden walls surrounding the graves sat figures of snakes, demons, goblins and other scary creatures, all lined up in a 25 centimetres gap. In the middle were at least one hundred graves, each 15 centimetres large, a headstone at the top of each. A small crypt made out of mirror glass was on the far right side, from Angelo's point of view.

By the sight of the cemetery, Sydney became more calm and thoughtful than he usually was, concern rose within him.

The tech traced his fingers over the wood of one goblin figure, his former fear forgotten and totally fascinated by the work of the man they try to capture for the last five years. "Wow. W-what does that mean, Sydney?"

"I don't know, Broots. I don't know."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

The next hour the three men spent with looking up any of the figures in the internet, giving some of the materials to analysis and Angelo trying to empath something.

That was how Miss Parker found them. When she saw the Empath's head peeking up between two demon figures, a smile appearing on his face as soon as he saw her, the Ice Queen stopped dead in her tracks and smiled involuntarily back. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and her heart began racing, when she realised that this was a hint of Jarod - that he was back on the screen, playing his old tricks.

A moment past by, in which Broots looked scared up to her. Slowly she crossed the last metres, crossing her arms in front of her. Her gaze fell immediately on the figures and the graves, remembering her on the cursed island near Scotland. A smirk spread on her face and she muttered a 'Nice, Jarod.' Breaking her eyes away from the box, she saw the concerned look on the older man's face. "Syd?"

Sydney locked eyes with Miss Parker, trying to understand her amusement. Sighing he answered slowly. "I'm worried that this might be some farewell greeting. All the signs for death and hell make me think that Jar-"

A half laugh escaped Parker's red lips. "Funny, Syd. Next time you say he is gone under the grave-diggers. … Have you already found some clue?" Her glare travelled from the psychiatrist to the technician, who stood confused about her good temper on the other side of the graveyard.

"N- nothing yet. We haven't found a picture or information matching one of the figures. It's like there is totally no clue behind." Broots neared tentatively the brunette, who he more or less secretly admired and loved.

"Oh, there is, Broots." Her smile grew, as she gave each of the little statues a closer look. Then her gaze travelled over each grave, stopping at the one on which's top a little cherub stood. She stroked the stony head of the makeshift headstone, inspecting its features and eyes. After a moment, in which her colleagues observed her curious, she decided that the little angel looked down on the grave before it. Cautiously Parker opened the wooden lid, bringing two folded pieces of paper and a small bag into view.

"Wow. How did you knew, Miss Parker?" Broots was taken aback and watched her retrieving the contents of the grave.

"Already been there; done that, Broots."

Frowning about her strange answer, he looked back at the cemetery. "Shall we open all the other graves?"

By the time he had said that, Sydney and Angelo had come up to Miss Parker and looked both over her shoulder on the drawn picture of a little girl. 'Angel' rang light as a whisper from the brunette's lips. Her blue orbs remained on the portrait, while Angelo gently grasped for the paper.

The Empath stayed calm, but his face showed deep sadness. "Poor little angel. Knew all terrible things. Knew the curse. Knew the evil that took her."

"Yes, Angelo. She knew what was to come." Images of the girl's ghost flashed in her mind.

"Voices told her."

Startled Miss Parker looked up to her other childhood friend. "What do you mean?"

"Her voices, your voices told her. Told her about the fire. Told her you would come."

"She had the Inner Sense?" Miss Parker could read confirmation on the man's features. "So that also runs in my father's family."

Sydney watched the woman before him, who looked like hypnotised at the drawing. "Miss Parker? What does run in your father's family?" Stepping in front of her, he added. "Who is this girl?"

"Little Miss Parker." Piped Angelo, before the Ice Queen could say anything.

Sighing Parker walked over to the steps leading to Sydney's office and sat down on them. The psychiatrist and the tech followed her, confusion evident on their faces. "This is the self-portrait of my great-grandfather's daughter. Everybody called her Little Miss Parker, only her father, that bastard, called her Angel. The day she draw these two pictures," Parker paused holding up the second sheet of paper that was repaired with tape. "The day almost one hundred years ago, she and her mother died – burned to death by her own father and husband." The brunette ignored the 'Oh god!' from her colleague and spoke, a tingle of sadness in her voice. "Angel desperately tried to stop the rising madness in the Parker family, but even the priest, she asked for help was killed. Her only success was to hide the scrolls."

"Scrolls? W- what scrolls?" Again Broots was ignored and Parker continued with her train of thoughts.

"That day, my great-grandfather left Carthis for good. When he arrived in America, he founded The Centre. … If Angelo is right, then Angel had the Inner Sense, that tried to warn her. And that means, that the gene for the Inner Sense also runs in my father's family – not only in my mother's."

"That is just logically, since many genes are recessive."

Broots looked like he had seen a ghost. "Eerie story."

"And that is what Jarod wanted to tell you." Concluded Sydney and began pacing the room.

"No. I doubt that he knows about Angel's Inner Sense." She opened the little bag that was also hidden in the grave. In it were scraps of paper – dates or question-marks printed on them. Curious about the new riddle, she closed the bag and walked back to the miniature graveyard. "Jarod wants to tell me something else."

"And what exactly?" Broots ran after her like a puppy.

"We will see that soon." Parker looked at the figures surrounding the cemetery like guards. About a fourth were demons and serpents. "We have to find the demon Asmodeus."

"Asmod-what? Here are many demon figures. Which one do you mean, Miss Parker?" The woman in question shot him an annoyed glare, shushing him immediately.

Parker's blue eyes scanned the figures and compared them with Angel's picture. In some way all of the demons seemed to match the drawing in one point or another. Observing the statues more closely, she noticed all of them but one had their eyes closed – and the one remaining starred at the opposite wall of the box. The brunette moved to that spot and searched for something to open the wooden panel – but failed. When she was about to ask Broots to bring her some tool, her eyes fell upon the goblin directly next to the desired wall. She grasped the wood and pulled it up into the air, revealing a small opening that lead behind the wall. Parker dug her hand into the gap and pulled it back out with a tube of glue between her fingers.

Raising a brow, the brunette muttered under her breath. "As if we don't have any!" Annoyed about the dead-end, she threw the item towards Broots, who caught it in the last second before it hit the floor.

Sydney watched her – part of him impressed and proud on the woman – another part interested in how she knew what she had to do. He asked himself, if that box had something to do with the events on that island and Jarod's disappearance afterwards. To him Miss Parker was the only one knowing the answers at the moment.

Parker had found with a little help of Angel's drawing the exact match for the serpent. The wooden animal's gaze fell on one of the mirror-crypt's walls. She had almost opened the glass roof, when she realised Jarod's variation of the little game. Her head shot up and she barked in her best command tone. "Broots, bring me a laser-pointer. Now!"

Scared of the sudden change of mood, the tech quickly sprinted away, only to return seconds later. Impatient Miss Parker flicked her fingers until Broots placed the laser-pointer in her palm.

Immediately the Ice Queen placed the laser-pointer on the serpent's head and turned it on. The red ray was reflected by the mirror and a small red point fell on a goblin at another side of the box. Satisfied Parker went to the creature and tried to lift it, as she had done before. Just this time the figure didn't move an inch. Confirming that the laser-pointer had shown her the right place and that the mirror-crypt was really empty, she inspected the goblin more closely. Suddenly she noticed a fine crease around the creature's neck. Screwing the goblin's head off, another small bag inside the wood came into sight.

Parker grasped the new hint and looked inside it, seeing scraps of paper again. On some were names, on others photos of people she knew. Nosy she looked at the three hints and decided that there must be at least one more – something to glue the pictures, names and dates on.

Sydney saw that the brunette had lost all ideas, where the next hiding of the clue could be. Giving it a try, he wanted to proof if his assumption was right. "What else had you and Jarod done, when you had found the three creatures of the drawing?"

A little startled about that question and the psychiatrist's guess that she and Jarod had worked together on the island, she answered, remembering the time three months ago. "We put the words together and searched for the chest. But here is no chest and nothing that looked like then." Her eyes fell back on Angel's map and searched for an answer.

"And when we take everything apart?" Broots suggested, but was silenced by his boss' glare.

The brunette scanned the graveyard again, her blue eyes wandered over the graves and headstones, each in a different shape, but all partially covered with moos. Some minutes past and she investigated every grave, row after row; she finally noticed letters engraved into one of the stones. The words were well hidden behind the plant cover, but Miss Parker scratched the moos away with her fingernails – flicking with her fingers once more, signalling the tech to get her a tissue – ASAP.

Sydney watched the woman trace her index finger over the name on the headstone, sadness resided in her features. When his eyes finally made out the letters and their meaning, his face showed worry for the woman before him.

Meanwhile Broots snatched a view over the Ice Queen's shoulder and read out loud 'Rest in Peace Little Miss Parker'. "Woha!" The tech's eyes widened and he muttered half unbelieving: "T- that's your name, Miss Parker! Is Jarod gonna kill you?" His concern was evident in his shaking voice.

The woman in question just rolled her eyes. 'Didn't the idiot listen at all?!' Carefully she opened the wooden lid of the grave explaining the story once more. "That's Angel's grave. I found it on the island. As I told you just one minute ago everybody addressed her as Miss Parker!" With that she retrieved a folded paper, hoping it to be the final clue. Walking over to the shrink's desk, she placed the glue and the two bags on the table while unfolding her newest founding – a DIN A3 paper with many lines on it, which connected different boxes with each other. Above every small but long box was a much bigger one, obviously defined for the pictures. On the topmost angle – without free space for a photo – was the only filled box that read: 'Crypt-keeper Parker'.

A sigh escaped her red lips when she understood what the pretender wanted her to do. She damped the bags' contends onto the tabletop and searched for the miniature copy of Angel's portrait along with her name.

Sydney rested his head in his left hand, watching curiously his boss place one picture, name and the corresponding dates – if there were any – into the empty boxes. "A family-tree." He stated and wondered what his protégé had in mind.

Some time past before Miss Parker placed the last name – this time without a photo – on the only box that wasn't connected with any other. She ran her finger over the empty picture-box over her baby brother's name, making a mental notice to replace the emptiness with a photo of Tommy.

Afterwards she examined her finished work, noting with a smile that even Jarod's father Major Charles was represented in order to give Ethan his rightful place in the family.

When Sydney's phone rang, the brunette knew exactly who was on the other end of the line and turned the loudspeaker on. "That was lame, Jarod. You stole the idea of a little girl that died almost 100 years ago."

Despite her words the pretender heard his love's excitement about the resume of their old cat and mouse game. "Angel was smart. It was a good riddle and it took humanity 100 years to find the answer. … I wanted to give you something easy for the start. After all you had three months free."

A sarcastic laugh escaped her lips while she threw the glue at Broots motioning him to attach the scraps on the paper. "Free! Hardly. … How long have you needed for this?"

"Three days without any sleep; the fourth day I spent in bed. The hardest thing was to draw the branches of your family-tree, so every picture has enough space and you can say clearly which line goes to which image. Took me hours!"

"Oh, poor genius!" They were back at their bantering refreshing the odd feeling of normality.

Behind the brunette, giving her her room of privacy, he listened to the conversation, glad to finally hear Jarod's voice again.

Holding Angel's map in her hands she noted the plastic on the old drawing. "You taped it?"

A little startled about the accusing tone in her voice, Jarod argued back. "You ripped it in two!"

A smile formed on the old man's face, hearing the effortless exchange of the two people he cared so much for.

"I thought we should clear some branches of the Parker family-tree." The pretender finally revealed the purpose of his work and listened to the silence that followed for a moment, giving Parker the opportunity to add her two cents. Then he continued in friendly voice. "And by the way, I thought you might appreciate your evil twin out of the hair for some time." Remembering the reference she had used for her brother during the former night.

Smiling evilly Miss Parker walked a few steps around the desk. "Where did you sent Lyle this time?"

"Let's just say, it would do him some good if he had seen the Indiana Jones movies or at least Relic Hunter. And Parker, when he comes back, you shouldn't cross his way for one or two days." With this said the pretender disconnected the line and the beeping of the ended call echoed through the office.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter – please tell me. I think my writing skills became a little rusty since my last chapter, but it can only become better – _hopefully_.

I would appreciate comments and reviews. Shall I go on? Do you like my turn of events till now? The more reviews I get the faster I write.


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